Saturday February 11, 2017

In this week’s episode of "I work for a famous tech company, but it’s not as great as it sounds," a Tesla production worker has sounded off on the injury-prone working conditions of its plants and how the company is paying wages that are not consistent with industry averages. When I think of Tesla, I picture a company whose practices are on the cutting edge, so the former complaint is particularly peculiar to meآ—was none of that forward thinking applied toward minimizing liability? Musk has already claimed that this is all a bunch of crock, while others are suggesting that the disgruntled employee doesn’t even exist. Bloomberg, however, managed to get Mr. Moran on the phone, who reveals that he is being supported by the United Automobile Workers labor unionآ…

A few months ago, six out of eight people in my work team were out on medical leave at the same time due to various work-related injuries. I hear that ergonomics concerns in other departments are even more severe. Worst of all, I hear coworkers quietly say that they are hurting but they are too afraid to report it for fear of being labeled as a complainer or bad worker by management. Ironically, many of my coworkers who have been saying they are fed up with the long hours at the plant also rely on the overtime to survive financially. Although the cost of living in the Bay Area is among the highest in the nation, pay at Tesla is near the lowest in the automotive industry.